#and have interesting stories but... its not easy in general and its very much pay 2 win

[shitty-fallout-art]

only a single portrait because you don't need to see more right now :)

-Currently residing within the bowels of the Slop Shop hideout, Cait is an unwilling captive acting as Jared's current prophet.

-Not much could initially be said about Cait, given that she had nobody with which to share her story with. Once she was sold to the Combat Arena, she figured she would spend the rest of her life within its walls without a hope of ever being freed from them; and technically, she was correct.

-For years her routine had been a murky cycle of violence, the days blending together so that she lived perpetually within the chaotic fights of the arena. Between the chems that both gave her spirit and dulled her mind, and Tommy not being one to keep her updated with matters that, frankly, didn't interest her, the world seemed to pas by her with little trouble, until its troubles grew too great for her to be ignorant of.

-The numbers always fluctuated, raiders coming and going at all intervals depending on circumstance alone. Raider nests often got liberated or stolen, their proximity to Diamond City was often a liability risk, and prime targets in the southern regions were often too good to pass up. No matter what the combat arena promised in terms of excitement or caps, the unpredictable world of the commonwealth outside meant that business could go from busy to slow, and there was nothing that could be done about it.

-It wasn't until the numbers drastically went up that she figured something must have been driving everyone up north.

-At first it was a great boom for business, and despite the increase in her performances, she was also allotted time for herself to make room for other, fresher acts. Though unable to leave and very restricted in what she was allowed to do, Cait was able to make the most of her time with chem usage and general distractions, and second-hand she learned of pretty strange things happening outside the Combat Arena.

-The arrival of the Brotherhood got quite a laugh out of a lot of people, as did the rise of the minutemen, though such opinions were tinged with embitterment and anger towards their rapid success and rock-hard defenses. Nothing had squashed their spirits yet, but it was obvious that most raiders saw both groups as a challenge, and held mixed feelings of excitement and worry at a confrontation. Any further politics surrounding them had slipped her mind. Her addiction had grown heavier, and her actions while under usage became extreme and frightening.

-For months the Combat Arena flourished, then came a steady decline in profits, yet the number of patrons never went down. People were still showing up, and weirdly enough, staying there for long periods of time, though it appeared as though there just wasn't enough to indulge in freely. Chems were still easy to get hold of, but food started to become a bit harder to come by, and it wasn't for lack of effort on the raiders part. Cait's position kept her well fed, but fights often broke out amongst the freeloaders.

-Tommy was gradually loosing control of his business. It was hard to throw out the people who couldn't pay, but as they grew in number they overwhelmed him and eventually made themselves at home. Everything was running dry but they had no means with which to replace it. The Brotherhood was putting pressure on nearby areas and if they caught wind of the place then the Combat Arena was doomed.

-He grew desperate, and though he had promised to take Cait with him, he tried to sell her contract in the end for a little extra cash.

-The man who bought it, a Raider named Rust, was a strange one. He often talked about the failings of Ortega and bought large quantities of chems whenever he could, though rarely seemed to take them himself. When the Brotherhood came knocking down their down, he took Cait and fled towards the northeast. Cait hated him, but he supplied her with chems and kept her ignorant of the fallout outside, so she didn't complain much.

-She spent most of her days traveling and most of her nights swimming underneath intoxication, and it was one of these nights that the pair had met Jared.

-At a raider's den in Green Trailer Estates, Cait scourged for any chems they had available, becoming wild and uncontrollable with its influence. This had often brought her negative attention, but for Jared it was a sign of something great.

-She thought his questions were weird, most didn't make sense, but he seemed to like the nonsensical answer she gave, and when he promised her more chems for more answers she simply couldn't refuse.

-She didn't find out until after Rust and Jared formed a partnership that she had dug herself into her own grave.

-Her chem usage had increased substantially, but even when she tried to take a break they kept giving them to her. In moments of coherency she started to realize that the answers she was expected to give Jared were wholly unbelievable and impossible for her to know, but he insisted that she had some kind of ability to answer them.

-Cait grew confused and worried, but also weaker and sicker as time went on. Jared acted accordingly, giving her time off the chems and trying to keep her as healthy as possible, but it was during these sick episodes that she came to learn just how crazy he really was and how shitty she felt all the time.

-In was simply out of question for her to quit, they wouldn't allow her, and the feelings she so once enjoyed as a means of escape became painful and impossible to tolerate.

-Over the course of many years she hung on the brink of death, only to be kept alive for the sole purpose of acting as a seer. Even when malnourishment ruined all of them, even when her urine grew black and painful, even when her heart could not beat on its own and she could not even lift her own head; Jared simply refused to part with his ticket to greatness.

-But he still realized the toll this was taking on her, and that was when the experiential abductions began. From her bed she watched many chem users come and go, unable to provide the proof Jared sought and often dying from the effects of whatever cocktail Jared's boy's had concocted.

-It's a hard and painful life that she's grown sick of, having abandoned all hope of ever getting better, though she asks for a swift, painful death instead of slowly rotting away. It seems inevitable that she will eventually meet her end, no matter how hard Doctor Carrington tries to keep her alive, but those chems they keep administering are starting to have strange effects on her body, and she isn't sure what to make of that.

#fallout #fallout 4 #cait #horrorout au #shittys fallout aus #fallout au character profile #shittys art

[brickcentral]

🤩 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: zekezachzoom Hello everyone! It's time to direct the spotlight toward our community members, and today we will get to know better zekezachzoom!

"My name is Sunny but you might know me better as zekezachzoom on social media. I am a freelance graphic designer and have been a toy photographer for 10 years.

I came up with this profile name after my sons’. Zeke is my second son and Zach my first. I imagined them running away after calling their names, hence Zoom. I live in Singapore where we have two seasons, Rain and Shine. It’s a tiny island and getting around is pretty fast and easy. I have a few favourite spots around the island for toy photography. I will be more than happy to explore these places with any of my overseas friends if they pop by this part of the world! Though sometimes I wish we have mountains, rivers and maybe desert for more outdoor choices. On the plus side, being a small island makes organizing an outing with fellow toy photographers very easy, even if it is a last minute thing.

I started toy photography after posting an image of Spiderman squatting on the window ledge overlooking the neighborhood on Instagram…and then discovering the community. Everyone was and still is very encouraging and I think this helped in me trying to better myself with each photograph. Though Instagram is not what is used to be, but that is a discussion for another day.


Talking about process, if there is a brief for the photo (commissioned work, photo contest), I will usually follow up with some research work on the topic. At the same time, I will park the topic for the photo at the back on my mind and let it simmer unconsciously.

However, for personal work, I usually do not actively chase for ideas, forcing them out. I find that most ideas come to me randomly. This usually happens in a variety of ways, like watching videos on any subject, going about my daily life, observing and listening to things around me. I think being curious about everything and anything certainly helps in generating ideas.

Once I have a photo idea, I then let it sit and simmer further in my mind’s eye. This can help take the concept to more interesting directions in terms of story, setup, composition, lighting, etc. More ideas can be built upon this initial concept base on even more things you see and observe. It also allows time to think about how to setup the shot.

I will always sketch my ideas on my notebook, which is always by my side. At present time, I have more ideas than time to shoot!

When it comes to the shoot itself, I usually start with the mobile phone, quickly checking the angles and then locking my camera to a tripod. I always use a tripod to gather multiple shots of the same angle with different lighting, atmospheric effect so that I can then composite them in post if need be. Then I will shoot couple of shots for final composition without the lighting and atmospheric effect. I enjoy the post production work, especially the color grading part. Sometimes, the word PHOTOSHOP give rise to arguments within the photographic community. To me, it’s just a tool to bring the picture to its maximum potential.

I think people I know in the community know me for my punny, silly and light-hearted stuff. So much so that friends recommend me toys they think that might fit this style. However, recently I find myself going all over the place in terms of themes. I just enjoy the process of experimenting different approaches, be it the storytelling or the technical bits of photography. When I am shooting indoor, I usually set up for low key images. It gives me a chance to experiment with indoor lighting. If there is one thing I would tell my younger self when I started, it’s to pay attention to lighting. It can elevate a nice photo to a great photo. Also, I like to build simple sets with everyday object that end up looking like something else when viewed through the camera. I do this mostly because I am lazy and don’t have the patience to build dioramas. I am usually with a group of friends when I shoot outdoors, because we have a monthly gathering among us. During these outings, I am constantly looking out for areas with awesome lighting. I try to reserve my action shots (ie scenes with flying debris) outdoors, mostly because there is no need to clean up after the mess! Also, outdoor light is beautiful…but fast changing lighting condition is another story all together.

When I first started, it was all about the Star Wars figures. I had stopped collecting figures since the 1980s , but it was the Star Wars Black Series that got me collecting again with all its glorious articulation. Once I discovered the community, I realized that there were other characters to be bought! I sometimes wonder if that is a good thing, from my wallet’s point of view.

I find myself gravitating towards nostalgia when it comes to the figures I buy. So, my collection and images usually reflect that, with movie/TV characters from the 80s. Stuff like Aliens, Indiana Jones, Predator and Back to the Future, etc. However, whether they are LEGO minifigures, statues, 6 inch figures, I will shoot any figures as long as they serve the stories. Each type of figures has its own pros and cons and challenges. But I would not have it any other way.

This is my basic equipment list: • Nikon Zfc with kit lens (16mm to 50mm) • Lensbaby Sweet 35 lens • Helios 44-2 58mm lens • Extension tubes for close ups • 2 speed lights • Couple of LED cube lights • Manfrotto tripod

Why toy photography? I love pop culture and telling quirky weird stories with characters I love. I can never produce awesome looking illustration of these images I have in mind and photography seems like the next best thing. Hence toy photography! When I first started, I was always coming up with ideas in the middle of the night and sketching them down and made it my mission to spread this hobby. I recall vividly telling a friend how much I enjoy this hobby and was going to just keep throwing out toy photos into the internet and see what comes back. And a lot has indeed happen since then: • I started a local Facebook group to organize more toy photography outings and share photos. • Managed to get featured on national newspaper and television, because they came across my work online. • Made friends on social media and participated in podcast by some of these friends. • Conducted workshops. • Shot for some toy companies. • Collaboration with toy designers and model/diorama makers. • Nikon Ambassador.

I have enjoyed the journey so far and look forward to improving myself. Something I always remind myself: your best photo is the one you have not taken yet."

Thank you for accepting our invitation and let the community knows you better!

If you want some insights on the exclusive picture and for a better view of the others, head to our blog at https://brickentral.net/.

- @theaphol, Community Outreach Manager

#lego #lego photography #brickcentral #toy photography #afol #legophotography #toyphotography #minifigures #brickcentral member #brickcentral artist spotlight #lego art #artist spotlight #interview #artist profile

[uselessheretic]

i think the thing that irritates me about izzy ofmd hate is that you don't have to like izzy? you don't. he's an unpleasant little man who does bad things and as an antagonist is very easy (and fun) to hate. you can gleefully cheer for him to be tossed overboard s2 that is okay!

i am bothered though by the push for other people to not engage with his character. like i made one joke post about izzy's perspective that was still making fun of him, and someone sent me hate messages saying i was racist and supported homophobia and that i should get my teeth kicked in (which is VERY funny considering i'm gay and black and this was sent by a white fan)

less extreme than that though is people consistently talking about how he's not that deep, that interpreting him as queer is homophobic, and that fans trying to analyze him are trying to redeem a flat white villain instead of engaging with other characters. which... you can engage with multiple characters to be clear. you can. there isn't a limit to how many dick jokes one can make about a cast at any given point in time. also analyzing izzy means analyzing ed like you need to understand izzy if you want to understand ed.

but also it's just not true to call him flat? if you say "izzy's in love with ed and acting out because of jealousy" then people say you're reading too far into it. but this is something that is supported in the text of the show and by the creator. i don't understand how "ed and izzy is its own love story and izzy is a spurned wife and izzy is in love with ed but their relationship is very toxic" could be any more clear. wanting to read more into him isn't grasping at fake straws either, he was written that way to be complicated where david jenkins has said that izzy's the character to pay attention to on a rewatch because there's more to him at first glance.

like this is literally canon. i cannot stress enough that izzy being in love with ed and izzy being a complex character worth analyzing is just canon and the creator specifically pointed to him as a character to focus more on

he's LITERALLY in love with ed this isn't reaching this isn't "it's not that deep" and he's not generically evil without anything else to him. this is a textual, canon reading of their relationship explicitly stated by the creator several times

and i guess i'm just? confused then on how we keep going back to a pushback against analyzing the actual show and character. it doesnt absolve izzy of his actions, but it does make him more interesting. if you think about it, izzy's character doesn't make a lot of sense if you read him as having his motivations based solely in a homophobic desire to keep blackbeard masc especially when you don't actually see much pushback from him in show of ed being too feminine or whatever. he kicks him when he's down in episode 10, but i stfg it's so much more interesting if you just pay attention to what actually spurns that on because the "you're blackbeard not ed" as a running theme thru the show is SO interesting when you realize that izzy primarily calls him ed and edward, but he hates it when others do it. like ugh sir you are so toxic and possessive lmaooo

you don't need to like him, but what's the point in trying to force others into flattening his character? where again, you can dislike him. you can even dislike him loudly and on your own blog. but it's weird for people to go out of their way and get mad at other people for engaging with the content or stating facts about the character that are literally canon.

#izzy hands #ofmd

[incomingalbatross]

My theory is that Watson is a victim of his own success; he’s so good at Being A Narrator that people have trouble perceiving him as a Character.

Much of his personality and presence in his stories is tied to his narration—but since the stories aren’t presented as about him, it’s easy to process that presence/personality as part of the background, just neutral elements of the medium in which the stories take place. But this means that if you don’t pay attention to his narrative voice, Watson’s voice and personality are far less obvious than, say, Holmes’s. He’s Just Some Guy, right? He’s just the everyman there to tell the audience what Holmes is doing.

I think this kind of assumption leads to a lot of the weird Watson choices in adaptations. Because if you’re working in a medium where he’s not the narrator—TV and movies, obviously, but also written works that made a different perspective choice—then a lot of his narrative presence is stripped out by default. And if you only processed that narrative presence as part of the backdrop, you may not even notice it’s gone…you just look at Watson without his voice and go “Hm. Yeah, he’s kind of a blank slate.” And then you make stuff up to fill it in: “Stuff” ranging from Nigel Bruce’s “comic relief” to Martin Freeman’s “addicted to violence” to fairly-widespread fic tropes like “handles Holmes’s social missteps for him.” (Yes that last one is also Martin Freeman, but it predates BBC Sherlock.) Fans and adaptors “fill in the blanks” and find things for him to do.

The only problem is he’s NOT a blank.

And this is one of the things that makes Watson SO interesting, because he has PLENTY of personality but people still overlook it BECAUSE it meshes so well with his role I guess? People keep making up traits for him and he HAS traits already. They’re just not looking in the right places! His character permeates the narrative so well that people overlook its presence!

We know things about Watson. Listen.

We know that he unironically and uncritically thinks Holmes is the greatest, while seeing him clearly enough to give us a picture of his flaws and faults.

We know that he’s imaginative and keenly sensitive to atmosphere, and also good at reading people’s emotions even if he can’t deduce why they’re feeling something. (He is, in fact, very good at observation and not good at deduction.)

We know he’s brave, and always up for something interesting.

We know he’s intelligent and well-read.

We know he’s idealistic, chivalrous, impetuous, and kind of a hothead; we also know, however, that his temper is generally short-lived and he’s quickly ashamed of it if he thinks he was in the wrong.

We know his ego works the same way (and is often tied to his temper); it’s easily wounded, when he remembers it exists, but he doesn’t care enough about his pride to feel embarrassments for very long.

We know that he, generally speaking, feels everything deeply, but is also comfortable with that, and is apparently incapable of resentment that lasts for more than five minutes. (To a degree we may, personally, find insane, but it is still consistent within the text.)

We know all these things! They’re in the stories! But because the stories are so consistently in his voice, we are consistently encouraged by his voice to overlook his actual character. So well that even when people want Watson to have personality, they apparently don’t realize it’s already there.

#apropos of nothing #just. acknowledge watson is a real character 2kforever #let my boy EXIST #(and relatedly: less 'i can't believe he wouldn't be mad about holmes faking his death let's make him be mad offscreen/in the adaptation') #(more 'what kind of character WOULDN'T be mad about that? let's explore what his apparent uncomplicated joy says about him as a person') #let him be weird in the ways he is canonically weird :P #sherlock holmes #watson

[flecks-of-stardust]

what are those mods that were cooler than MSC? if they're that good i have to try them out

So upon further thought of this topic, I think i’m misrepresenting my thoughts on my enjoyment of MSC. A more accurate way to put it would be that I had more fun with a lot of other mods. However, I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to compare MSC to them, because the goals of MSC are different from that of other smaller mods. I guess this counts as an analysis post; this will be long.

TLDR: I had more fun with a number of region mods and I think some modcats are cool, but Rain World’s design makes having a DLC that stays true to its core ethos difficult, so I find it hard to really blame the MSC team for MSC being a lackluster DLC.

Regions

When I say that I enjoyed other mods more than MSC, I think a lot of it is in the level editing (ie, lediting), in the sense that region mods have consistently wowed me far more than MSC’s regions ever did. Conceptually, the regions that it added were incredible; I loved seeing Moon as close to her prime as she could ever be shown in Spearmaster’s time (ie LTTM the region; DM), but also finding her ruined structure (MS) as Rivulet, and the idea behind Silent Construct (CL) is also fantastic. But gameplay wise? I didn’t particularly enjoy any of these regions, especially not CL. I hated the spider clogs that I had no way of dealing with, and overall I really just bumrushed it and cheated to get to the story. Metropolis (LC) and Outer Expanse were okay in terms of gameplay, but LC’s tiling and geometry is just kind of boring, if I had to be honest. It’s quite repetitive and not particularly unique, except for maybe Atop the Tallest Tower at a stretch. OE was fine by virtue of not really having another region to compare it to and also being comparatively more plant focused, but honestly, other mods have still wowed me more. So I dunno.

Like when it comes to having regions that feel interesting to explore and are also nice to look at, there’s always Pilgrims’ Ascent and Scorched District, both by Myrmice, and these two also fit so well with vanilla Rain World’s vibe to me. These two, along with the Mast from Snoodle, are all but canon to vanilla to me, because they just fit so well and add to vanilla while still maintaining their own identities as regions. And even beyond having to feel vanilla necessarily, because that’s not always the point of mods, there’s regions like Stormy Coast, Coral Caves, Howling Rift, more that I won’t list because of how long the list will get, but the point is that all of these regions give me more engaging gameplay and paths for exploration than I felt I got for any MSC added region. Granted it’s been a while since I played MSC’s content in full, and my memory of this stuff is generally poor, but I’d rather explore Aqueducts (OA) again than do MS. OA was big and I kept getting lost even with a map, but it was big and disorienting in a way that just felt better to me than MS. The same goes for Deserted Wastelands and CL, personally.

MSC regions feel very vanilla-like to me, in that they’re kind of easy to filter out of your conscious processing so you can focus on other things. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, but for the price that you have to pay for Downpour, I think it falls a little short. The thing is that MSC is very much story-focused, putting more emphasis on the slugcats you play as and their stories rather than the lediting of the regions exclusive to them (in my opinion anyways. I ain’t a leditor). Which brings me to my next point:

Modcats and Story

This might be a bit of a hot take, but I think Rain World is inherently a gameplay focused game that doesn’t support much overt story or plot. The lore in all three vanilla campaigns is entirely optional, and if you kill Moon? Fuck you! No lore for you! And even if you wanted the lore, you have to figure out that pearls have to be taken to her to be read, and that the colored ones have unique lore, and you have to find them and hope the scavs don’t take the pearl first. Even with Hunter, you can choose to toss the green neuron and do your own thing. It doesn’t even stop you from ascending either. The story is entirely optional in Rain World. So then to add any story focused campaign at all inherently takes it away from Rain World’s initial design. And on top of that, you’re playing as a slugcat. It’s really hard to add any sort of story in Rain World that doesn’t circle back to iterators in some way. But then what else do you do besides ascend? Eat a few specific types of food? Gourmand does that. Kill a specific creature? That’s Artificer’s thing. Talk to all the echoes? That’s Saint, and kind of Hunter in a way. What else can you do without radically changing the structure of Rain World itself? And to that end, would that still be Rain World? I’m not saying it’s impossible to have a story based campaign that doesn’t involve iterators, but I do think that it’s really difficult to have them be completely irrelevant to the story and still have an engaging story, because Rain World itself is so not story focused. But if you don’t add story, then what do you do in the campaign that doesn’t make it just a rehashed version of Survivor’s campaign?

So like. I can’t really take issue with MSC’s story based focus that much, because genuinely, what else do you do? And basically any modded slugcat available in 1.9 that I think is worth trying falls into the same category. I think Pitch Black is really promising, but it introduces A Lot of changes to the world, and there’s currently almost no story. Vinki isn’t iterator focused necessarily, but their story still hinges on pissing Pebbles off and is overall very silly (not in a bad way! But it doesn’t fit the vibe of Rain World). And Gravel Eater,, you can’t get more intertwined with iterators than with GE’s story, but they’re still my favorite modcat because of how detailed their story is and how interesting their mechanics are. And if you just have a scug with abilities and no story, that’s… not really interesting to play, because then it’s essentially just Survivor, but you’re able to like, say, make spore puffs for free.

Maybe I’m just not creative enough in this aspect, idk. But genuinely I can’t think of much else to do in this game that doesn’t involve iterators in some way. If you know me, you’d know I’m Iterators McGee who has written 70k+ words about a character who has literally no canon dialogue. I fucking love iterators, but I think their stories should be separate from that of slugcats, but in game, just. How? I genuinely don’t know.

Other Thoughts

I think in some ways I view MSC as more of a framework that has allowed other people to build their own stories off of it. The only other mod that has a scale even remotely comparable to MSC is Drought, which is also iterator centric in story. I can’t speak to its lediting since I haven’t played Drought myself (but I’ve heard the quality… fluctuates?), but story wise… yeah. I don’t know. I just don’t think Rain World can really have a DLC that doesn’t pull it away from its original ethos in some way. I would not want Drought to be a DLC either, as cool as I think it is, and I still value a lot of things about MSC. It’s lackluster as a DLC because again, what sort of campaign can you add that doesn’t add a story that isn’t iterator related in any way?

I guess the way to summarize this is that I think MSC tells some really interesting stories through its gameplay. Even the parts I hated are part of the story it’s trying to tell, and on that front I think it does well. But by virtue of being story focused (and, by virtue of story in this game being very iterator centric), it doesn’t feel as much like Rain World, and so it’s not as good as a DLC as it would have been as just a mod. And now that it exists and is widely used, other people have been spurred to make their own ideas and show their creativity, going bigger and bolder than MSC in some aspects. And regarding me enjoying region mods more than MSC’s lediting, I think enjoying the region for being a region is kind of the fucking point of playing a region mod, whereas that isn’t exactly MSC’s focus. So some things are hard to compare.

This is kind of an incoherent ramble but I hope I got the main points across. I still like MSC and I won’t tolerate anyone bashing it here. You will get blocked.

#not adding any tags really but. up it goes i guess

[rudycomics]

Rudy Recs - Smoking Behind the Supermarket

I'm not really sure if I want to get too in the weeds for this manga but the latest 2 chapters (32 and 33) of Smoking Behind the Supermarket by Jinushi have felt like a step up in their craft that really made me pay more attention to the pages.

Spoilers for the manga if you're interested in reading it!

I remember starting this manga thinking that the concept was kind of fun. An older man working at a black company developing a crush on the cashier at his local convenience store, who happens the be the same person as the girl he starts having smoke breaks with outside. He's constantly stressed and a bit clueless and can't recognize that the two women are actually the same, since their on and off the clock appearances are so different.

The style was always pretty unique and charming but I'd say it felt pretty utilitarian in a way: no really intricate compositions or focal length, it's all quite flat and clear.

It looks this way basically all the way up until these latest chapters, with much more detail in hatched shadows, hair detail, and closer compositions that really make you pay attention to the art more-so than before.

The story generally stumbles through Sasaki, the black company employee, and Yamada, the cashier, smoking together after their shifts and getting closer to one another despite their generational gap and Yamada continuing to life the farce of being a separate individual, dubbed Tayama-san. Sasaki is generally clumsy and out of the loop, but his earnestness and easy to read nature makes Yamada continue to poke and prod him, like playing with a pet. She slowly develops an attachment to him because even if he's a bit out there, he's very considerate and gives off an air of someone with life experience that disarms Yamada when she leasts expects it.

There's a big story reveal that on their first meeting, the two both had personal revelations based on their short interaction. We know that Sasaki was charmed by Yamada and her smile (which particularly affected him because he was having an awful day at his job) but Yamada had been struggling with her own job and Sasaki came by and gave her advice that grounded her, yet she doesn't realize that it was Sasaki that was the man who spoke to her that day, only getting a vibe from current Sasaki that feels of a similar energy.

It's only in the most recent 2 chapters that we see both characters feels this nagging urge to want to reach out for companionship in ways that they don't really understand, weighed down by their different circumstances in life.

This ramps up the romantic tension soooo much so quickly that I found it INCREDIBLY gripping! I've been keeping up with this one for a while and it had its charm but suddenly I felt like "ohh, I get a sense for what these characters want and their yearning is so palpable."

The chapters end with this incredibly somber and bittersweet note, these characters are too conscious of the obstacles that keep them from truly being close and open with each other beyond the level they've reached and convince themselves individually that they are drawing a line.

I'm suddenly so interested in how these characters will grow and if they'll find it within themselves to change their minds about what they think they want or even deserve.

To bring it back full circle, I think that if the art is any sort of visual indicator, Jinushi might be taking their little romcom series more seriously and I'm really on board with wherever this story goes next.

#rudy recs #text post #manga recs #Jinushi #Smoking Behind the Supermarket #Super no Ura de Yani Suu Hanashi

[fangirltothefullest]

Hey I see you keep posting about AFK Arena and like! God those designs are SO pretty but I'm self aware enough to not want to put my addictive personality in a precarious spot so like. How bad is the in game spending? Cause I'm really tempted to download but don't want to kill my bank account and would love some input (if you haven't played the game and just like the people that's so valid lol ignore me)

So here's the thing, the game is essentially collect characters and have them arena fight, rinse and repeat with cute events between and very good character art and interesting stories.

The prices for stuff are so ridiculously high that I couldn't afford to gamble money like that in the game anyways. I play it passively like all these games which is why I don't end up spending much.

So it's a matter of patience and whether or not YOU have the patience to wait for the heroes you want (especially the awakened ones). Most things are pretty accessible in terms of events and being able to participate even if you're lower level and the costumes are only for aesthetics with no bonuses so there's no reason to spend money on them (again 15 USD for a cosmetic is so insane that unless it's available for an event where it's generally free to obtain, spending the money on it is outrageous and theres no reason to do it but once its unlocked its unlocked permanently even if you have duplicates of that hero).

Spending money on a monthly package is pointless because if you log in daily you eventually start obtaining diamonds anyways and if you get stuck and can't progress on a tower level or main level or whatever you can honestly drop it for a while and come back to a new event which can give you more goodies and eventually you will be able to upgrade gear and heroes etc.

Obtaining awakened heroes and also pets are the hardest, but again, once you reach a specific level (made easier now by the mentorship program) you start getting access to get iltheir draw materials in the shop for diamonds and since you accrue diamonds, gold, upgrade materials and gear passively daily anyways, eventually you get enough to buy one of the cards. You need 10 for better percentage draws, but like I said, if you're OK with waiting ages to obtain it and you play the game passively, it's a LOT easier to enjoy. The people playing competitively probably spend tons of money on it and there's no real punishment for not being at the top (Looking at King's Choice where its so pay to play and you're basically punished if you aren't trying to be the top player to force people to spend; now THAT game is evil but afk arena isn't that bad).

They don't do $5 payment things and when they do lower money options its entirely not worth paying. Right now theres a 4.99 thing in the shop for a fragment of awakened talene but you need 60 to get ONE of her so again its entirely stupid to pay it. The stuff they give you isn't worth spending it so if you know that going in it can help.

They have things that are like "reach these levels and pay 20$ to unlock 3000 diamonds for each of the levels passed. This refreshes and goes with you so once you get 9 levels passed (they are not consecutive its like for every 5 levels or something) which will take like a year, you could reward yourself with tha5 once it's passed and obtain 45000 diamonds. But it's only worth it for draws if you consider each draw is 2700 diamonds. So it might not be worth it for you!

Now, I've spent some money on the game but it's rare and it's always during a black Friday event sale (their "random popup sales" for beating levels are also not worth it and it's easy to see. 99.99 for 30 awakened cards is very obviously bullshit. A once a year purchase of $10 to acquire like 50 awakened cards to get the five ten draws is much more worth it but only happens once a year if that so it may not even be worth it when thw real discounts show up). Also spending 100$ to get one hero doesn't level the hero up so its also bullshit. Its designed for people with a LOT of money and so staying away from the shop could be beneficial.

I also play gardenscapes which is also notoriously horrible but I log in, play until the free stuff is gone, then fuck off it for another month or three so when I come back I get a ton of "thanks for coming back!!" Goodies and free stuff and the cycle repeats.

If you're worried I'd say don't do it but you could log in and take one look at how stupidly expensive the shit is and be like ah OK not worth it.

[theanimeview]

Anime To Look Forward To – Spring 2024

It is now the start of the Spring 2024 season, and we’re finally returning from our long hiatus. As we return, I thought it would be nice to start off with something a little easy–like a few quick recommendations for those watching things this season.

In upcoming/ongoing works to consider watching this season, I (Peggy Wood, Editor of The Anime View) recommend:

Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken 3rd Season

That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime is a personal favorite of mine. The anticipation for the upcoming third season is truly exciting, and I look forward to seeing where this story will continue now that we’ve had a movie which seems canonically related. If you’re already a fan of this incredible series, you won’t want to miss the upcoming season either! I hope we get to see some further character developments too, as they’ve been hinting for a long period about the summoned children and the expanded role the older “children” will play in Rimuru’s story. A definite must watch!

Ookami to Koushinryou: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf

I watched Season 1 of Spice and Wolf years ago (2008). It was a very cute romance then, with an interesting approach to merchant life in a historical fantasy. The second season as also pretty good.

Judging from the trailer, it seems like this upcoming season will serve as a reboot for the series. So, if you’ve been contemplating giving it a try, now seems like an excellent opportunity to dive into the fandom!

In general, the series revolves around an older-looking merchant who embarks on a journey with a wolf spirit. The romantic elements build slowly, the business strategies are practical for the story, and the overall progression is delightful. Throughout much of the early series, it maintains a historical slice-of-life vibe that I believe many viewers will find appealing. Don’t miss the chance to explore this engaging world and join the Spice and Wolf fan community anew!

Kuroshitsuji: Kishuku Gakkou-hen

Black Butler holds a special place in my heart, and one of the standout arcs that I wholeheartedly recommend is the Public School Arc that is getting an animated adaptation this season. This particular storyline showcases Ciel Phantomhive navigating challenges independently, a departure from the usual dynamic where Sebastian Michaelis takes the lead in many situations. Witnessing Ciel’s problem-solving skills and collaboration with others in the absence of Sebastian adds a unique and compelling layer to the series. For fans who appreciate character development and intricate plot twists, I believe that this arc is a true gem in what has been published of the series thus far.

Lv2 kara Cheat datta Motoyuusha Kouho no Mattari Isekai Life

I’m thrilled that this series is getting an anime adaptation. Having read about the first 20 chapters, it appears to be a highly promising work. The narrative introduces a “hero” summoned from a world with slight similarities to the one he finds himself in, yet he doesn’t fit the mold of the anticipated hero—at least, that’s the initial belief, though I suspect otherwise!

While there are elements of fan service, the series offers a thought-provoking exploration of a world where a country depends on individuals from other realms. Additionally, pay close attention to the summoning number—it introduces intriguing details that spark theories and contemplation. Overall, the storyline provides a fascinating twist on the isekai genre, centering around a progressive-minded merchant who seamlessly adapts to his new environment. So, for those who haven’t added this to their watchlist yet, I highly recommend it!

Dekisokonai to Yobareta Motoeiyuu wa Jikka kara Tsuihou sareta node Sukikatte ni Ikiru Koto ni Shita

This one is new to me, but it definitely caught my attention with its promising premise. The protagonist is a reincarnated hero aiming for a more laid-back life this time around. Despite possessing hero skills, these abilities go unnoticed during appraisals, and the absence of the “gift of God’s bounty” results in his family deeming him a failure and subsequently casting him out. However, things take an interesting turn when he’s taken in by his (former?) fiance, who recruits him as a bodyguard.

The storyline seems to promise an entertaining comedic twist within a fantasy world and I am excited about the potential. It looks like a delightful blend of humor and fantasy, making it a show worth checking out. With that said, I’m planning to pick it up this season and wholeheartedly recommend it here!

Tadaima, Okaeri

This is an Omegaverse BL story, and as far as I can discern, it’s the first of its kind to be adapted into an anime. Having previously explored the series, I can confirm that it comes with several expansions, including a sequel(s), doujinshis (djs), and at least one spin-off. If you’re on the lookout for an Omegaverse BL narrative, this one seems like a reliable choice, offering a complete and well-established storyline with a dedicated fanbase.

While the story might not align perfectly with my personal preferences, I believe it has a well-crafted narrative, complete with clearly defined rules for the world it presents and a harmonious blend of slice-of-life elements. If you have a penchant for slow-burning romances and heartwarming family dynamics, this series might be a perfect fit for you. It has certainly piqued my interest, and I’m eager to see how the unfolding narrative captivates viewers this season!

Code Geass: Dakkan no Rozé

Calling all fans of mecha and socio-political narratives, brace yourselves—it’s Code Geass time once again! As an avid enthusiast of mecha stories, the allure of colossal robots engaged in epic battles never fails to captivate my attention, making any series featuring giant robots an instant addition to my watch list. However, Code Geass stands out prominently, even overshadowing the iconic Gundam series in terms of its ability to grip my interest.

With great anticipation, I await the unfolding events involving Ash and Rozé, eager to see how their roles contribute to the overarching storyline. Code Geass has a proven track record of offering thought-provoking plots, and this season is hopefully one of no exception. Fingers crossed!

#ANIME #BLACK BUTLER #CODE GEASS #CODE GEASS: DAKKAN NO ROZÉ #DEKISOKONAI TO YOBARETA MOTOEIYUU WA JIKKA KARA TSUIHOU SARETA NODE SUKIKATTE NI IKIRU KOTO NI SHITA #KUROSHITSUJI #KUROSHITSUJI: KISHUKU GAKKOU-HEN #LV2 KARA CHEAT DATTA MOTOYUUSHA KOUHO NO MATTARI ISEKAI LIFE #OKAERI #OOKAMI TO KOUSHINRYOU: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF #RECOMMEDATIONS #RECOMMENDED #RECOMMENDED WATCH #SPICE AND WOLF #SPRING #SPRING 2024 #TADAIMA #TADAIMA OKAERI #TENSEI SHITARA SLIME DATTA KEN #TENSEI SHITARA SLIME DATTA KEN 3RD SEASON #THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SLIME

[8uny]

posting something from my private notes here for fun

let me talk about something mildly interesting for once. you know what they say, about escape room design?

the best customer expierence in an escape room, is to get out right when it's down to the wire. it's disappointing if you don't get out in time. it's also disappointing if you get out with too much time left. the sweet spot, the ideal expierence, exists in that fine line of 'difficult victory', the last second. and designing a room, you try and build these puzzles to achieve that spot

theres other things that go into it, like "delivering what you requested, and then more" (which ive talked about it terms of storytelling before) via things like puzzles or set pieces being multipurpose (whether used in multiple puzzles, has a puzzle element and a story element, is a set of something you could assume is just decoration but has practical purposes) or the room itself (secret extra hidden rooms, or in general the space revealing 'more' as you go) and the puzzles themselves, when they feel diagetic to a story and fair

but since you know im on that kick, i was thinking of this philosphy in regards to murder mysteries

a story that asks to be solved is not good if the solution is too easy or if the solution isnt even possible to get until the very end, or doesnt resolve in a way that makes sense

and ive been thinking a lot recently, about what makes a mystery satisfying. what makes it feel fair. ive also been thinking about this in regards to umineko (am on ep6), because while it's easy to come with plausible explanations for the murders, they aren't "satisfying" enough because just because something is logically sound and plausible doesn't mean it feels like it makes sense for a character to do something so stupid and crazy

ive also been thinking of Death On The Nile and how i felt while reading it, how i guessed my culprit and how the events of the story are paced and characters presented so even though i did guess right pretty early, i was still confused and on the edge for most of the book

anyways, my thoughts on what makes a puzzle/mystery/whatever feel fair:

-things cant just happen because 'id be exciting to read a mystery about it', everything has to feel right. everyone's course of action has to be what they, in character, would immediately decide to do first choice. if something feels like 'a stretch' it will not feel satisfying

that's the bridge between "it's plausible it could have happened this way" and "I know this happened, because it is in line with what that character would have done."

this is hard for me to put into words, but it's like the same reason why miscommunication plots are a pain to watch, or if something has to happen to make the story more dramatic, even if its not really what the character would do doesn't sit right. The mystery exists in service of the characters, not of the author.

it can be a "stretch" with how information is acquired, and im willing to even have a little give on things like physics, but its real unsatisfying when some crazy batshit thing happens and you ask the killer "WHY?!?!?" and even if the "how" was clever and fun, if they dont really have a good reason for it beyond the story thought it would be fun it feels a bit unfulfilling.

-you cant lie about the question. a good mystery doesn't hide.

i think this was the most frustrating thing about after party season 1 for me, and some other mysteries. when the camera and the story call to attention some big mystery or inconsistency or unsolved bit of information asking for you to pay attention and care about and invest thought and energy into it and……… it doesn't matter.

and this is where agatha christie and umineko make me very happy. like death of the nile will constantly bring up the key inconsistent impossibility in the evidence and say this is important. this one thing doesn't make sense right now, but if we know the killer, it will. hercule will find a clue and repeat that it's important and we just don't understand it yet, so we have the chance to think about why. and umineko is ALL about that. umineko smushes your face in its biggest questions it wants you to focus on and solve and begs with you to try. the afterparty s1 will spend lots of time being like "whooooo shot this mysterriiousss arrow at someone?!? whyyyy was there a WIG found near the body?!?!" and then go lol it didnt mean anything and could be completely removed and not effect the mystery.

A good mystery is confident in itself, and doesn't need to hide and or try to be unnoticed because its afraid its too easy, because its afraid if you pay attention it'll be solved. it's a challenge, it gives you the CHANCE to think and try to answer before presenting the solution. and more than that, its real shitty to dedicate time to answering questions that dont matter.

thats not saying you cant have red herrings but the core of a mystery is being rewarded for investing energy into something, getting that "payoff" that "ahhhhh i see!" and if you have something REALLY COOL you should want people to invest energy into it!! you should hold it up and be like "you better care about this, because when it all makes sense, itll feel SOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOL!" and why its painful when you hold up things as distraction, and people care about the wrong thing, then feel kind of bleghh when they didnt get a so cool because it turns out the story didnt give a shit in the end either

oh god im typing a lot and i think ive said some of this stuff before but its been circling my head for months now and its nice to try and get it all in one go

but i've been trying to analyze how mysteries make me feel while im reading them. what choices make me think what ways, and what feels satisfying and clever and what feels frustrating and pointless

i could also point to knox's decalouge but i feel like thats common sense

#8uny rants #disorganized passionate excerpts #but ive been trying to figure out what makes a story feel good #and when “it makes sense” is not enough

[fox-daddy]

A dragon's cape;

I've been thinking about Kyle more since his birthday was a week ago. His dragon cape is interesting to me from a story point of view.

Kyle's cape is pretty childish by design it's a cape designed to look like a plush dragon it's about as childish as Asra wearing a fox beanie. Also, in the way it's designed, you can see where the spikes are sowen into the cape when having them sowen underneath and poking out through holes would've been better.

Yet it also just shows how it's changed as its purpose has.

If you go far enough back when Kyle is an actual child, the cape is covered in feathers hiding the place where the spikes are sowen onto the cape. Kyle uses the cape to scare off birds the same size if not slightly taller than him. He can use a bit of magic to ruffle up the feathers and have them sticking up in warning or have them lay flat against the cape when not in use of scaring away birds. It's also has ties to healing due to healers wearing capes (not animal capes specifically, but it's pretty much their uniform so you can identify healers quickly). Whixh also technically makes the cape a catalyst as the first time someone tried to push Kyle into a career. If not subtly.

Time out at sea not only causes the feathers to slowly fall out, but even when he gets it fixed, its purpose is shifting as Kyle starts to teach himself magic. By the time he makes it to Vesuvia, the feathers have all but fallen out. When Kyle starts to learn magic under his aunt, his cape starts to act as a familiar in a way. Something that helps keep him grounded and his magic in check. Allowing him to cast more powerful spells as it keeps him grounded, especially helpful since his element is air.

As we enter post-plague, I would say his cape takes on another role. As it goes from pre-plague to plague times, I had Kyle start to use learn how to use just as powerful magic without the cape. Since at the end of the day, it's not a familiar, nor does it replace one. The whole plague and everything reset this progress, pushing Kyle back to the point where powerful spells are out of reach without the cape.

Why doesn't the cape give Kyle headaches since he used it so often? The simple answer is that it kind of did at first, but being a 'dragon cape', it was easier for Kyle to assume familiarity was because he likes animals and likes seeing dragons in books. Without being tied to his magic, it also gave of a feeling of calmness that did give him a headache if he thought about why he felt calm but if he just accepted it and didn't think deeply about it then it was fine. Even post upright route, the cape can still give Kyle the beginning of a headache if he tries to think on it for too long.

The last role his cape does is feed into his childish disguise. Kyle is small 4'4, he tends to be cheerful and sweet, he has bright blue eyes with bits of green and a very baby face, if he wanted to he could probably convince someone he's 13 MAYBE even 10 and in general he purposely gives off an innocent vibe. That is his trap. He acts sweet and adorable and like he's as innocent and naive as a child. But if you pay enough attention, you might realize he's actually taking note of everything around him. He's not as easy to trick as he purposely appears. He knows a lot about a lot of different things and can put that knowledge into use. While he may seem like an easy target, he really isn't. That's his trick.

Since people tend to reveal more than they think when they don't think anyone is paying attention to them.

#the arcana game #the arcana #the arcana mc #the arcana fan apprentice #mc kyle

[nebulacollege]

*runs in a circle like a feral creature* Would Edmund be the type to read Edgar Allen Poe books in class to look smart or is he more of a horrific fairytales type of reader?

+

Anonymous asked:

Do the boys have a favourite book? Which genre do they love reading?

Woah, a question that implies that I read enough books to answer that!! I wish, Anon 😭 But I’ll try to satisfy your curiosity to the best of my abilities.

I combined these questions together since both of them are more or less about the same topic... but for once, I’ll start with Edmund.

I think Edmund would like both of those things unironically. He doesn’t have a need to flex in front of his classmates, he probably doesn’t even think he’s smarter than everyone else (shocking, I know), but it could just be due to the fact that he doesn’t know them very well... yet, the year has just started. Back to books: anything creepy, anything horrific, anything macabre is his go-to, so he’s going to enjoy both of the options you mentioned. He’s not really there for a deep commentary about something, he wants to get spooked, he wants to see some new ideas and thoughts he’s never seen before, and he wants to find something that might actually be true and real despite the bizarre nature of these stories or even fairytales. His edgy side is definitely happy about this, and hence it’s his favourite genre overall, even though a ghost story, an eldritch horror, a detective story with gory descriptions of its murders by a serial killer, or a horrific fairytale are not exactly one genre. Now, if you want him to look smart in class, go with something written by Oscar Wilde, Balzac and such. He feels very smart enjoying the satire. As for his favourite book, no idea lol He probable could name a couple of titles, he has more than one favourite book, but nothing comes to mind as being “Wow, Edmund would’ve been so into it” right away.

Niall is another person who enjoys reading the satire, especially the one which criticises the elite, so he would actually... bother Edmund if he saw him reading something that he’s into as well. Niall especially likes simple, easy to read books, the ones that can entertain him. Things like “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”, “Fathers and Sons”, “Botchan” and others that have a very clear humorous narration (Niall wouldn’t like “Lord of the Flies”, for example, because it’s too dark and depressing)? He’s drawn to this type of literature, but he doesn’t read it very often. Because there’s something he likes much more, and it’s biographies of famous people :) People like Alexander the Great, Augustus, Caesar, King Arthur, Napoleon, Genghis Khan, Tang Taizong and such. And then I remembered that I wanted to make the Nebula college located not in our universe, so he probably reads something about similar people lmao But you get the drift – the way they rule, conquer, plan and strategise is his jam. He’s so obnoxious... Niall doesn’t read this stuff very often, but he had phases (especially in his childhood) when he really fixated on one of the “cool” political figures and made it his entire personality until he got bored of it. But his passion stayed, and now he has a better and deeper understanding of all those figures and he doesn’t really idolise them as much as he used to, plus he pays much more attention to people who surrounded them and stuff. He also likes historical books in general, I think.

Ned is not exactly known for his reading tastes... he mostly ever reads non-fiction. He reads stuff related to his studies, he tries to read a lot of economy-related books and sometimes gets distracted by things that analyse society more than market. He’s both somewhat interested in it and it’s his genuine desire to understand ~the market~, but at the same time it’s so fucking boring that he falls asleep a lot of the times, so it takes a lot of grinding for him to get to the core idea of those books. Other than that, he only reads textbooks, and the entire world of fiction and art is not something that he considered worth of his attention. Which is a pity, because I think that he’d immensely enjoy grand Bildungsroman novels, which tell an entire life of a character. It’s both like looking at someone’s life and living it at the same time, which Ned would find fascinating on its own, and then it’s peeking into someone’s mind. My guess is that he would enjoy a main character who’s either a lot like him and proven wrong during the course of the story (or when characters from a story throw challenges at his beliefs, he’d like to know how to counter that lol) or who’s depressed, nihilistic, but at the same time very different from Ned’s own rigid views. He doesn’t like infantile or dumb characters, the ones that act irresponsible. Watakushi Shosetsu is also a genre that Ned would like, since it’s very similar to this type of novels, but the line between fiction and reality in Watakushi Shosetsu is very blurry. His favourite book is definitely the one from any of these genres, the first one that shook him to his core.

I asked Ryu about his thoughts on Liam, since Liam obviously reads non-fiction a lot: botany, science, biology, medicine, fashion (esp back in his childhood, so he knows the history of fashion more or less + has an eye for stylish things because he used to stare at pictures a lot), and things about our planet in general, he’s that one encyclopedia child that spent tons of time looking at photos and stuff. So what on Earth would he read as fiction? Detective stories :) It suits him so much it almost hurts. He loves when the author asks him “Can you guess who the killer is?” and he plays this little game in his head every time he’s reading the story. So yeah, he’ll gladly take a whodunnit, howdunnit, and any other mystery he’s offered to solve . He 100% read all of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie stories (although Niall and Edmund also did). His favourite book would be the one where he failed to solve the mystery and considered the explanation smart enough to provide him with clues on why he failed – his criteria is rather strict, so a lot of times he was disappointed by the author’s slyness and the lack of a writing talent.

#nc replies #liam vernetti #edmund weyton #ned stafford #niall mccarthy

[greentrickster]

Hi!! Just dropping by to say I love your Saturation fic! It’s probably the only AA fic I repeatedly read myself, since I think your writing for the characters is so strong and in-character, and you change details that make sense/fix problematic issues (such as the Trucy panties thing) also it just has the right tone of the AA series. Usually in fanfic people it’s their own writing style, the tone of the media they’re right for can get lost, so I like how you actively try to keep AA’s wacky funny tone while also being heartwarming. It’s just. Great. Makes it really fit you know?

Also!! I find it very cool you made Phoenix and Edgeworth get together during the disbarred era, I haven’t read a large amount of AA fanfic so i don’t know if it’s common for those two to already be in a relationship in other fics, but I think it’s really interesting you made that decision! Not just with AA, in pairing fics you don’t usually have the characters get together until the end since that’s the “goal.” I see very few of fics that actually explore how the relationship changes/morphs when they actually are together. That’s usually just a thing for most couples getting together in media now that I think about it.. You have any thoughts on that?

First off, thank-you so much, I'm both honoured and flattered, thank-you! ^U^ ^///^ Hearing that I've really captured the tone of a setting and its characters always feels wonderful! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I've never seen them get together/be together in the disbarment era during a fic in quite the way I'm doing it - that's honestly a big part of why I am doing it as I am. Like... if AO3's a potluck, then I tend to devour all the yummy stuff everyone else has made, then try and cook any dishes I'm craving but no one else has made myself.

Except in this case I thought I was making a nice spaghetti dinner and discovered too late that I was, in fact, making an entire banquet and also desert.

Such is life.

In regards to Phoenix and Miles getting together and it not being the end of the fic... it could just be me being an aromantic (which I am), but I generally don't find 'they get together and then the story ends' stories very satisfying for long-form stories. Like... I can enjoy it in movies, but once we start getting past the hour and a half mark the snail in my ear shouting "NOW KISS" gets progressively louder.

Also, I just like seeing the post get-together relationship grow and develop! I've been cheering for these characters to become a couple, I want to see them actually get to be a couple, you know? It's more fun that way, a much more satisfying pay-off! And it's fun getting to follow them on their path, see how they relate to each other, how this shifts things in other aspects of their lives - it's really great! One of my favorite manga is called Otomen, it's eighteen volumes long, and the main couple get together for realsies in volume two. It's a series with its flaws, they all are, but dang is it a satisfying read in regards to their relationship and getting to watch these two grow up and grow closer together as they learn more about themselves and each other! This is my jam, I absolutely in no way want to ever date or be in a queer platonic relationship with anyone else (though I do have a BFF whom I love dearly), but I adore reading about other people being in love and enjoying being in love; makes me happy to see happy couples in real life, too!

As to why I personally think mainstream media doesn't tend to do this, honestly? Cowardice. Not because they're afraid to try new things (we've had some awesome shows recently that some fantastic creators have worked so hard to bring us), but because 'will they won't they' story lines historically sell, and sell well, and it's an easy way to get people tuning in week after week. I think a lot of people who call the shots and do the marketing research for shows believe that, if given the satisfaction of seeing their ship get together (or get together and be happy), then they'll stop watching or tuning in, because they've gotten what they wanted and don't need to watch anymore. They're afraid that giving the viewers any lasting satisfaction will cause them to lose interest in a show. I could be wrong, I'm in no ways an expert on this stuff, but this is the general vibe I've gotten over the years.

Anyways, thank-you again, I'm really happy to hear that you're enjoying my fic so much! ^_^ <3

#ask #anon #aa saturation #I am small and full of opinions

[dangermousie]

An author rec - Anna Belfrage

I don’t post about it much, but my favorite historical period to read fiction and nonfiction about is Medieval Western Europe. I specialized in it in college and have been drawn to it even before that.

And I have found that while it’s easy to find (a) murder mysteries (b) lengthy tomes centering around war and court or (c ) romance novels set in that time period, it is really hard to find something I love more than that - novels following lives of merchant/upper class in that period. What I really want is a novel with a lot of details about everyday life, with some battles and politics (but not too much) and a story with a strong romantic line but not a romance novel. With a fictional (or at least historically obscure) protagonist(s) instead of a king. Huge bonus if it centers around an arranged marriage. And I don’t want to read about arranged marriage = always suck, let’s do a grim narrative about the plague.

I realize that these are fairly narrow criteria but whatever, I like what I like. That is why I enjoyed a lot of Elizabeth Chadwick’s novels or, if we go way way up into 17th century England, Stella Riley’s historical novels. And now there is another author I can add to the list, Anna Belfrage. She has a time travel series I was never able to get into (not my sort of thing) but she has two truly amazing series that give me everything I want.

One, a complete four book series called The King’s Greatest Enemy, is one of my all time favorite reads and more people need to know about it. Its protagonists are Adam de Guirande, one of Roger Mortimer’s knights and Adam’s wife Katherine.

When the first novel opens, Adam is about to marry Katherine, a big step up since she’s from an important family. Sure, she’s no virgin and has some shady history with Adam’s overlord, but on the other hand, there are lands. However, Katherine’s family does not want to marry off their fancy daughter in a match they don’t super like, and so instead marry off the illegitimate daughter nicknamed Kit, who looks a lot like her. From those inauspicious beginnings, this series becomes a delight of watching Adam and Kit slowly fall in love with each other and work with each other and navigate the very turbulent times of Edward II’s reign. You don’t really feel you are reading about modern people playing dress up (Adam is very conscious of class for example) but they still feel like people you can root for.

It also has one of my favorite set-up, OTP against the world. Their world is terribly dangerous - Edward II’s favorite is unhappy with Adam because of his connection to Mortimer, and at one point both Adam and Kit pay for it (side note, one of the things I love about this series is when people get hurt in battle or tortured, they don’t magically heal. By the end of the novel, Adam’s collective injuries from prison and battles and what not have taken their toll, he’s been permanently affected.) Mortimer rebels against Edward II. Eventually Edward III rebels against Mortimer etc etc etc. Illness strikes with no warning (they give up a child as a hostage and never see him again as he dies from an illness.) Adam and Kit keep fighting to stay alive and for the other to stay alive and to stay together and it’s glorious.

This series also features one of my favorite portrayals of Roger Mortimer, the overthrower of a king, the queen’s lover and in generally a man with the kind of a life that if it wasn’t real people would not believe it. The conclusion of his and Isabelle’s story is of course foregone for hundreds of years but it still broke my heart into small pieces. It also features such an interesting portrayal of Edward III and his wife Philippa - I started out liking them and ended up loathing them both but you see exactly how they got there and how power warped them and it all feels quite realistic.

Anyway, obvious warnings for torture and attempted sexual assault (of both genders) and all sorts of murder, but this series is FUCKING AMAZING!

And now she has a new series - 3 books are out but I am only on Book 2 and must scream because it also features an arranged upper class marriage that works out and becomes OTP against the world in a shifting political landscape. Our protag, Robert FitzStephen, gets rewarded by an heiress wife Eleanor d’Outremer by Edward I. Their marriage starts out rough but develops into a genuine match. And now they are in Aragon in Book 2 and it’s even more awesome. Watching two cool competent people in a loving marriage dealing with all sorts of issues and medieval history background is AAAAA so good! So go read and scream at me!

#books #anna belfrage

[adelle-ein]

lace's xenoblade 3 review/thoughts

So I finished Xenoblade 3's main story. I'm far from done with the game, but I did all the main character side stories and a lot of side quests, and I do have all the heroes. Most of them aren't ascended yet, and I have many other misc sidequests and places to explore on my list, but I'm going to be doing that here on out while enjoying the post game perks.

Overall it was really good despite some glaring issues. Spoilers, obviously!

Just to make thing clear: I have only played Xenoblade 1. 2's character designs, weird-ass grooming love triangle, treatment of women, fanservice, and obsession with sex and dirty jokes are such massive turn-offs that I refuse to pay money for it. If someone would like to give me a copy of 2 as well as the money for its allegedly amazing DLC then I'll play it, but that's literally the only circumstances I can see that happening in. Also, to be totally honest, the fandom tendency to bully and harass people who don't like 2 has ruined any interest I might have otherwise had. I am generally familiar with 2's lore and how it connects to 1, though, having read up on it while deciding whether to play 2 and in advance of playing 3 -  no expert, but I do know stuff.

My biggest issues with Xenoblade 1 were that a) it didn't seem to like its main cast very much and b) it absolutely hated women to a frankly comedic extent. 1 literally is just The Shulk Game, periodically featuring Melia and Dunban. Every significant scene, major moment, iconic line, act of bravery comes from Shulk. Every characters' thoughts, feelings, and motivations revolve entirely around Shulk. Every woman revolves around her love interest (who, uh, is generally Shulk.) Reyn effectively vanishes by midgame, Sharla really served no purpose in the plot whatsoever and was largely there to be a love triangle point, Dunban is pretty much just a mentor, and while Melia gets a lot of plot focus and characterization, it ultimately amounts to a lot of suffering and minimal payoff (slightly rectified in Future Connected.) But it could be worse - Fiora, despite all her setup as Shulk's foil, despite her arc setup about disability and mortality and a literal god in her chest, is nothing more than a love interest, who has no motivation beyond being at his side, who at the pivotal motivation-stating moment has nothing more to say than "Shulk!" And of course there's also Riki, who is literally just a comic relief character and is unceremoniously written out of the game every time a cutscene gets emotional or plot-significant (only to reappear shortly after asking for food at inappropriate moments.) If it weren't for the Heart-to-Heart unvoiced text convos — which take for-fucking-ever to unlock — that would literally be all there is to these characters, and even within the Heart-to-Hearts, there isn't that much to go on. Ultimately, I enjoyed 1 a lot more for its gameplay and potential than anything else. To me, a story that doesn't care about its characters is pretty much never an enjoyable one.

Long story short, Xenoblade and I have a tenuous relationship. I pretty much exclusively play turn-based games due to a variety of disabilities. Xenoblade's combat, however, is forgiving enough on easy mode that I can get by thanks to auto-attacks and not relying on button mashing, so it's pretty much the only one of its kind that I've ever played. I'm including all this context to make it clear going in that I do not consider myself a Xenoblade fan, or hardcore player, by any stretch of the imagination.

My point here is that 3 absolutely blew me out of the water. 3 loves its characters. It adores its characters. It wants the absolute best for its characters. Which, uh…is sometimes an impediment, but most of the time it's great. Every cast member actually plays a role, gets an arc, gets backstory and development, and most importantly of all, they maintain a consistent web of friendships that have nothing to do with Noah. Every duo of characters gets some kind of cute interaction once in awhile, even combos like Eunie and Mio that don't hang out much, and it not only makes things feel organic, it prevents both love-interest-trap and the Shulk Obsession effects that 1 suffered from. Everyone gets a side story, everyone gets big boss fights, everyone gets a big piece of the screentime pie even though Noah is the main focus, and it's the high point of the game. The characters are all, genuinely, really good — Eunie and Taion are far and away my favorites (duh…) but they all overall feel well fleshed out and well loved. Noah definitely gets preachy towards the end, but he doesn't get every single good one-liner the way Shulk did.

Sena, unfortunately, is the only real exception to this rule. The poor girl starts and ends the game as Mio's cute accessory that she sometimes lends to Lanz. While she still gets way more character work than, say, Sharla, and isn't reduced to a love interest, her ascension quest has absolutely nothing to do with her and her "development" makes  no impact on her behavior for the rest of the game. Taion changes visibly as a person after the events at Colony Lambda, but while Sena says a few things about being true to herself, every subsequent story scene still has her using her perky, happy-go-lucky persona and being Mio's hype girl. The writers clearly had an idea in mind for her, but really fell down in executing it. This shines in Mio's side story — apparently Miyabi also saved Sena before her death, and yet Sena has never really seemed affected by this the way Mio is. It's never even mentioned before this side story that Sena had any involvement in Colony Omega. I have no idea what went wrong with writing Sena, but it's pretty sad, honestly. All that being said, it's really not THAT bad — it just sticks out compared to how the other five are treated. More of a "five great, one mediocre" type situation, you know?

Honestly, gameplay is great. The combat is insanely confusing and overcomplicated and everyone is yelling constantly but like. That's a given. Xenoblade. If I hadn't played 1 I probably would have just had no idea what to do, but I was able to fumble through despite getting bombarded with "tips" such as "Celestial Arts are special Arts triggered by filling up the Star Gauge and properly timing your Moon Attacks. By triggering a Punch -> Fly -> Burst -> Shine combo, you can turn off the enemy's Rage Meter and Shatter them, thereby executing a Shattershimmer attack. Try it for yourself! Also half those moves don't actually work on most bosses, but we won't tell you that." That gives you an idea of how every single "helpful tip" that pops up in Xenoblade feels to me. Again, though — a lot of this is on me. I don't have the processing skills or memory to be Good At Xenoblade, and easy mode negates the need to know most of this anyway, but man is it silly sometimes. I have some nitpicks about smaller stuff, like how the class unlock system works (luckily the postgame options render this effectively obsolete, whee!) and steering the boats (sound of me getting stuck on a stray monster and crashing sideways into an island.) But the exploration is so much fun and the sidequests are a lot more engaging than 1, and that's what really matters to me in Xenoblade gameplay.

Plotwise, things really do just drop off after the chapter 6 opening. Everyone said so and I was skeptical. I am no longer skeptical. Not sure the writers had any idea what they were doing beyond that point. It's not as bad as some (TEAM ASANO) but it sort of feels like they might have run out of time a little — the last dungeon really just feels like padding, X and Y don't even get death cutscenes, and Z feels unfinished. The basic concept of Z being the personification of everyone's fear and inertia works really well, but — and I can't believe I'm saying this — it wasn't as well executed as the similar final boss in Persona 5. Just not enough time spent on Origin and what its whole deal is, and things stayed a bit too Noah-centric at the end for my tastes. Also that final boss needed to have skip options in the cutscenes, if I hadn't cleared it my first try I would have cried from sheer fatigue lol. I also think the "side stories" are pretty meh, with only Taion's and Lanz's really working for me — I actually quite liked Sena's, but it isn't remotely about Sena and really should have been just a Ghondor quest. Eunie's felt purposeless, Mio's just absolutely destroyed the very concept of death in the entire game, and Noah's was…terrible.

And this brings me to my biggest plot complaint: death has become absolutely meaningless. The rebirth thing, I could get behind. The execution of Taion's side story, for example — while Nimue is drawn to and admires Taion for the same qualities that led to her past self mentoring him, she never regains her memories, and things will never actually be the same again. But that's okay, because she gets to live her own new life now. That can work for me. I can get behind that. Similarly, Eunie found her old husk and remembered her previous death, but she doesn't gain all the life experience and memories of that version or anything, just lives with the burden of a trauma she didn't experience. Moebius recruits gain memories of all their past lives, but they also become evil and warped under the weight of repeated bitterness and loss. All of these approaches worked. Not perfectly, but they worked for me. And then Miyabi shows up and just ruins everything. She's the age she was when she died, she retains all of her memories, she's exactly as she was. She might as well have never died at all. So…what's the point? That sacrifice that shaped Mio's life and outlook — it was pointless, in the end. Miyabi gave nothing up to save Mio (and Sena.) So it wasn't even a sacrifice. These aren't as bad but: Why is goddamn MWAMBA back, that's the silliest thing in the world, he's the Tutorial Party Member and those should never come back (unless you do something cool a la Fiora, and that sure wasn't the case with him.) His Agnus equivalent from Mio's squad whose name I don't even know is back. Cammuravi is back, and while he seems to be retaining his amnesia, he acts exactly the same, he's back to his previous age, and he's ~naturally drawn~ to Ethel (which…their relationship wasn't explicitly romantic or anything but I do feel a little weird about him hanging out with her as a child in this life when they were equals and the same age with some romantic subtext in the past one…) I do know however that some future quest will age Ethel back up, but that was all very weird. I don't think anyone should be coming back at the age they were previously, but even if we're doing that, they DEFINITELY shouldn't be regaining their memories.

In a game that's literally supposed to be about life and death, the value of each cycle, of each life no matter how temporary, where the characters repeatedly insist that each of their lives have value no matter how many times they're reborn — "death" becomes less than a slap on the wrist. I also don't know why Nia revived — probably just a 2 reference, as I understand from the wiki, and if so that's totally fine, but the timing of that after Mio's side story just blew the concept of death off a cliff was really not ideal. Would have been better to have her not awaken until after D was killed, as it just adds to all the resurrection in Mio's story and makes things feel very silly and death extremely cheap. The one good thing is that so far Miyabi seems to be the only cartoonishly bad no-consequences-at-all example, but that could change in other side quests, and frankly, once is bad enough when the game's themes so heavily revolve around the value of life and death.

Moebius is insanely hammy. It got old really fast, and then got funny again when I realized that literally every single one of them is like that. There's a certain refuge in audacity there, imo. They're just all complete weirdos who won't stop chewing the scenery, I can respect that. Although D's "true identity" being treated as a big reveal ("wow! You're a serial killer that has literally never been mentioned in this game before!!") was pretty ridiculous. Also kinda disappointed that we didn't get E, T, L, and S alongside N and M…while it makes sense, and the implication is that this is the first life in which these six got together, I wanted evil Eunie :( N is kinda hilariously pathetic, which may not have been the intention. I got off so many daze->bursts on him during his last battle and he was just bouncing around like a fucked up plinko horse it was goddamn hilarious. Also his armor has a booty window. I can't take this guy seriously. The big M/Mio reveal is really well handled and great, though, and the absolute peak of the plot. I just laughed at N a little during it. Can you really blame me.

I will also say that M/N's story did, personally for me, ruin the idea of Noah/Mio as a romantic couple — seeing a version of them that reached the peak of codependency to the point of genocide taints every version of them. Even though the versions we play as can reach acceptance and part for the greater good, it's hard not to think of N and M and their arc. Again, that's for me — not judging people who do love the couple or anything, I'm just a little repulsed by them together now :') I will also say that while some of the "life cycle"/"yay babies" stuff feels a bit hamfisted, it's really not too bad, especially with the focus being more on babies and life than "everyone's purpose is to make babies." And the language seemed surprisingly non-heterosexual (I'm so glad that Lanz/Sena stayed platonic.) The game sort of glosses over N and M (or some other version of them, but I got the impression that was them)'s teen pregnancy as well as Monica's (Ghondor is 18 while Monica is 33 — easy to miss but Monica was a teen mom) and I do feel weird about that. Not the end of the world but the material sometimes teeters on the edge of…not so great?

Side note: Now that I think about it, why are Nopon entirely outside the cycle and just living their merry lives completely consequence free in whatever parts of the world they want. Why was there no Moebius nopon i am so disappointed. Not to mention they keep inventing shit that just completely shatters all of Z's plans. Nopon are canonically more powerful than Moebius this is a very funny concept to me

All of this being said, the ending itself actually works okay for me. I always have mixed feelings about "but then it never happened!" type endings, I always prefer "let's rebuild the world with the tools we have." I don't like it when "bad/flawed/noncanon" timelines get erased without a trace and become meaningless. This is why my favorite time travel game is Radiant Historia. Have I mentioned I fucking loathe act 3 of Dragon Quest XI, to this day have refused to play it, and actually regret buying it at all solely thanks to act 3's existence? It's a MASSIVE pet peeve. Anyway, the ending narrowly subverted pissing me off — it manages to stay bittersweet by treating the Agnus/Keves separation as a consequence of restarting the world. You could argue that the ongoing "oh, they'll meet again somehow" reassurances ruin this, but to me it just barely manages to work. It might, admittedly, undermine some of the messages about moving on and forward and avoiding the endless now — but I think it's okay, in the end. Even if baby Noah runs into that alley and immediately trips over baby Mio and they get every single memory back, I think the ending as a whole is well-constructed enough that it can work. It wasn't a huge, universal retcon — either the effects of what happened will linger (they'll regain their memories and have to live with that knowledge) or the consequences of their choice will (they'll never meet again, or they'll meet but not remember) and that ultimately works for me. Subjective, though, and I get why some are disappointed with it in one way or another -- I would also have personally preferred a "rebuilding the world together without any Flame Clocks" ending. It's better than "Fiora's just all better and a Homs again with no lingering effects at all" or "Pyra and Mythra just are alive and have separate bodies bc Reasons now" though. *JKR voice* You solved it, Ginny was perfectly happy again!

The characters are what really carry this game's writing as opposed to the plot, and that's generally okay with me. Really, my big outstanding complaints are the death thing, mostly as it applies to Miyabi, and that things are a real slog in the final fetch quest and then dungeon, with that classic "padding an already too long JRPG" vibe. Seriously, I finished at 62 hours as a fast reader with a whole ton of side content left to do — that dungeon could have been ¼ of the length and equally effective, guys. Why.

Miscellaneous commentary — the VA work is great/terrible in exactly the ways I wanted it to be, Nia and Melia's new designs are great (and Melia's really suits how her VA's voice has changed, which is a strong improvement over Future Connected - not anyone's fault, just a weird side effect of things being recorded a decade apart. Getting to properly see and hear adult Melia really feels like it fixes up those issues though.) The Nopon are way cuter than they've ever been, fluffy and big-eyed, and their speech is definitely my favorite from the three games (toning down the mehmehmeh was a very good call, especially since this world is supposed to be a mix of 1 and 2.) Giving Riku that extremely deep voice in the English dub is a hilarious choice and I have endless respect for them for that. The main cast all sounds great, Sena being an American stereotype is so funny, Noah's VA handled his multiple roles really well, and Eunie was just hilarious at all times. Seriously I adore her. Music sounded great, but I was mostly listening through switch speakers so that obviously affected the quality a lot — it sounds way better when I listened on the PC through headphones though so I'm slowly making my way through. Should have won at the game awards but we all knew it wouldn't lbr :') The character models are great and this is definitely my favorite artstyle from any of the Xenoblades — everyone is a LOT more expressive than 1 but not, well, ugly like in 2. Much more facial feature diversity too which is sorely appreciated. Jiggle physics were kind of ridiculous (Mio should not have those!! She's like a b cup!!! why) but at least the outfits and angles weren't too wild, and Monica is the only one who looks outright cartoonish proportions-wise imo. I really enjoy the class system and getting to do wild/fun stuff with it, but I also like that significant cutscenes have everyone using their "traditional" weapons — it strikes a nice balance between gameplay and character fun for me. In general all the fight cutscenes were really well choreographed and lively, with lots of cool touches that made them actually worth watching -- stuff like Lanz blocking a huge long hit while Eunie and Taion use an ongoing sustained heal to keep him alive longer, it's neat.

Also That Photo is so dumb and so poorly timed but hey that's why i'm not playing 2

Anyway, yeah, I have my gripes but it's overall a really good and heartfelt game that feels like a lot of love was put into it! Really good! I…will still be avoiding the larger xenoblade fandom bc What The Hell Is Going On In There. eunie's the boss. why is this so long i just wanted to write a few paragraphs not the fucking iliad sobs

#txt #xbc3 // #xbc3spoilers // #xbc3 spoilers // #lace reviews

[mywifeleftme]

134: Panduranga John Henderson // Ocean of Love

Ocean of Love Panduranga John Henderson 1993, DuGa (Bandcamp)

The obscure reissue hustle is probably ripe to be algorithmized by some venture capitalist dipshit who thinks there’s real money to made in it, when at best an AI might be taught to lose a little less money with a lot less style. I got a new copy of Panduranga John Henderson’s Ocean of Love from venerable reissue label Luaka Bop for $10 Canadian, marked down 66%; on the infamously overinflated Discogs marketplace it can be had new for the princely sum of $4; and I seem to be the first person on the internet to whom it’s occurred to write about the thing, if 2023’s bastardized version of Google can be believed.

So, why wasn’t Ocean of Love the next Rodriguez or William Onyeabor? If you squint, you can see why Luaka Bop took a stab at it. It has some intriguing boldfaced names associated with it: Henderson got his start in the ‘70s as a prominent sideman in Ray Charles’ band; he moved into Alice Coltrane’s ashram in the early ‘80s and participated in some of her later recordings (which Luaka Bop has also reissued); the press release makes an optimistic comparison to Stevie Wonder. The recordings have a suitably eccentric story too: Henderson built himself a home studio to create his own electronic worship music, which he believed could induce states of relaxation conducive to meditation. He released three albums on cassette, none of which were heard much outside of his personal circles. (I mean, maybe an AI wouldn’t have helped Luaka Bop avoid a product doomed to warp in the warehouse, this paragraph is China white digger bait.)

I think the short answer is that, despite the present craze for all most things ‘90s, the decade’s New Age synth music remains impressively unfashionable. Enya has gotten her flowers, but the Yannis, John Teshes, and Enigmas of the world are still waiting on their rapture. Henderson’s music has more R&B in it than most—these four ten- to fifteen-minute Hindu-derived chants sound like very diffuse quiet storm. I realize I’m flying in the face of literally millions of people who indeed use this kind of synth music to soundtrack their spiritual practices, but I personally would find it difficult to take my own efforts to touch the divine seriously with this on: the only thing Luther Vandrossy music should be summoning is babies. Henderson is a good singer and a skilled arranger, and the album is not without interesting ideas—but his earnest desire to create spiritually beneficial music doesn’t change the fact that he’s starting from a bad musical premise. (The earnest already have a lot of unfair advantages, like direct access to their own emotions and the ability to ask for what they need—we can’t make things too easy on them.)

I listened to Ocean of Love quite a few times to prepare for this review, and my ultimate takeaway is that it isn’t music one’s meant to pay attention to, which is no sin on its own—but the mood/aesthetic it evokes isn’t one I can ever see myself seeking out. If nothing else, I did dig the generous liner notes, which cover Henderson’s rich artistic and spiritual life, his experience of Coltrane’s ashram, and relationship with his wife Mirabai, with whom he seems to share a remarkably profound love.

134/365

#panduranga john henderson #alice coltrane #new age #meditation music #luaka bop #synth music #music review #vinyl record #'90s music

[genuflectx]

Terato Book Review: The Mabon Feast (Wheel of the Year #1)

The first novel I reviewed was a sci-fi story I didn’t care much for, so this time I thought I’d go with more fantasy!  The first half has vague spoilers, such as descriptions of sex and if there was a happy end or not. Under the cut you’ll find a longer review with detailed spoilers. Here we go!

The Mabon Feast (Wheel of the Year #1) by C.M. Nascosta. The premise is that a witch, Elizabeth “Ladybug,” has lost all her family and has been cast out of her coven. As a result her income dwindles and she takes on a tenate into her huge house, who happens to be of a mysterious arachnid species (i.e. a drider) named Anzan. He’s quiet and keeps to himself, but over the course of a few months, and as Ladybug prepares to celebrate a religious holiday alone, things between them change.

Let’s get out our pros and cons list!!

PROS

- This is a short novella, possibly no longer than 35,000 words, that you can read in one sitting. This makes it a perfect little read for something that’s short, full of heart, and steamy.

- The prose is really well written and imagery is very vivid. I was never left confused.

- The plot itself is not incredibly difficult to follow. Plot simplicity may be a pro for some and con for others- but for me the easy plot works well for its length and is a pro. 

- I found all the characters empathetic and engaging- which is really just Ladybug and Anzan. They both have interesting personalities and unique character traits (which should be the bare minimum, but after the last novel I read you’d be surprised). 

- Anzan is very much a big spider, like the cover art! He has unique genitals.

- This is explicit erotica, so it’s not a spoiler they have sex. There’s a lot of build up to it, and then it doesn’t disappoint. The suspense was one of my favorite parts.

CONS

- It’s short. I finished it in about two hours and a half. For me this isn’t a big deal; it’s the length of a novella and does what it needs to do, and does it well. But I understand for others short length may be a con so I’m adding it.

- Yes, prose is vividly descriptive. But it’s also incredibly flowery and I sometimes felt overwhelmed by scenes that didn’t really need that amount of flowery detail. Some paragraphs would get awkwardly packed full of information. I think Nascosta could have done well to find a middle ground.

- A little about Anzan’s past is revealed closer to then end, but I think I would have liked to know a little more about him as a person. He’s elusive and mysterious for most of the story, and that nugget was all we got about him. 

- Though the sex scene was pretty fun and hot, its pacing did come off as a bit rushed once they got into it.

- Anzan’s appearance changes over a few months, and I have thoughts about that best left under the cut due to spoilers. In general I just don’t think the change was explained well.

★    ★    ★  FINAL RATINGS:

Monstrousness: 7/10 Eroticism: 9/10 Story: 7/10 Characters: 8/10

MY FINAL SCORE: 8/10 (Awesome!)

SPOILERS

I really did enjoy this short little novella! It reads like the erotic monster stories you see other’s share for free on Tumblr. The descriptions were great but sometimes they were so wordy that the main point of the paragraph got lost. One particularly long paragraph had Ladybug getting her hair done- and she goes on this looooong as balls train of thought about... I can’t even remember because it was so wordy and generally not plot relevant. Parts of it lead into the coming paragraphs, yes, but most of it could be cut down and the story would lose nothing. That was really my only gripe with the writing style, otherwise  Nascosta really paints pictures in your mind!

Anzan was a really fun character. Something about this strange willowy arachnid man showing up and then just... not seeing him for months. You know he’s there, you can hear him, he pays rent. But you never see him leave. I really do wish we learned more about his personality and past. However, the way Nascosta implies why he showed up at Ladybug’s door at all was brilliantly done. She never directly has him say “I was cast out.” She has him explain how his species casts out the 2nd unmarried son- implying that’s why he appeared out of nowhere and why so far from home. Just awesome.

I don’t know how I feel about him going from sickly to jacked af though. Being in the terato community I can assume this was related to being in heat, but sometimes Ladybug’s thoughts made it seem like she tried to reason it off as Anzan eating well and... exercising? However, the idea of guy going from so weak that his spider legs don’t look like they can hold his weight to guy looking like a bodybuilder was almost humorously goofy. I think if she explained in more detail that maybe this was a result of really hyped up hormones (like natural steroids) from being in heat it would have been a bit more believable. But maybe Ladybug just didn’t think of that, so thus the author didn’t write it in.

I really enjoyed wondering wtf Ladybug did to get cast out of her coven. The whole story she’s so sad, crying under the moon, feeling like she shamed her family. Then she accepts that no matter that she was cast out- she’s still a witch and her reasons were sound. Finally near the end Nascosta tells us she was cast out for refusing to kill babies in a ritual. That sentence alone tells you a LOT about Ladybug vs. the society of witches she’d grown up in. Great world building in just a short piece of information.

Overall this novella was really well put together! It has a compelling, emotional plot, intense build up to the sex scenes, and characters that you can’t help but feel invested in. Only book #1 is out (as of 6/14/2022) but I could see myself reading the next iteration if these two are a part of it. The only reason I don’t rate it higher than 8 is, honestly, personal preference. But it’s still a great read! I’d say give this novella a try if you haven’t already.

This marks the 5th book I’ve read for my terato reading list! I’ll be looking for more works to add to the list so I can publish it here on Tumblr soon owo

#terato #exophilia #drider #monster boyfriend #monster romance #book review